{"title":"Reassessing the value premium: Evidence from intangible-driven mispricing","authors":"Fawad Ahmad","doi":"10.1016/j.jeconbus.2026.106303","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jeconbus.2026.106303","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The predictability of key-value metrics, such as the book-to-market ratio, has declined over the past decade, primarily due to the decreasing reliability of book equity. This trend is particularly evident because traditional value-to-market measures often fail to account for intangible assets. This paper examines the impact of mispricing signals associated with a firm's intangible intensity on the value premium. The findings indicate that value stocks with high intangible intensity tend to outperform growth stocks with low intangible intensity. However, there is no significant difference in returns between value stocks with low intangible intensity and growth stocks with high intangible intensity. The results suggest that an investment strategy combining a long position in value stocks with high intangible intensity and a short position in growth stocks with low intangible intensity is associated with mispricing. Risk-based factors cannot account for the return differences attributable to the long-short strategy. Moreover, the results confirm that the decline in the performance of value anomalies is largely attributable to the absence of intangible information in traditional value-to-market measures, a key driver of the value effect. These findings further emphasize the importance of considering intangible factors as a key predictor when assessing a firm's competitive position and potential for value creation. Integrating intangible intensity into investment strategy development can enhance the effectiveness of value investing. Importantly, these findings are consistent with a mispricing interpretation related to the complexity of processing intangible information, although alternative explanations cannot be fully ruled out. Because firms’ intangible investment decisions are endogenous and may reflect unobserved characteristics, such as managerial quality or innovation prospects, our results should be interpreted as documenting robust cross-sectional associations rather than causal effects.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47522,"journal":{"name":"JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS AND BUSINESS","volume":"141 ","pages":"Article 106303"},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2026-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148916932","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Are uninsured time deposits the canary in the coal mine? Evidence from bank failures in two crises","authors":"Artem Meshcheryakov, Vladimir Kotomin","doi":"10.1016/j.jeconbus.2026.106304","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jeconbus.2026.106304","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>U. S. banks’ pre-crisis reliance on uninsured time deposits (UTD) helps improve prediction of bank failures during both the Savings and Loan Crisis and the Global Financial Crisis beyond bank fundamentals (CAMEL variables). We find that failing banks enter each crisis with elevated levels of UTD, which is associated with aggressive loan growth prior to the crisis. Failures of banks with high ratios of UTD to assets are driven by lower loan quality, poorer efficiency, and, during the Global Financial Crisis, lower income diversification, rather than deposit runs. We observe that, while some UTD leave weaker banks during crises, many of them stay until failure.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47522,"journal":{"name":"JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS AND BUSINESS","volume":"141 ","pages":"Article 106304"},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2026-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148916934","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Insurance demand and extreme events: Evidence from the Covid-19 pandemic","authors":"Eleonora Isaia, Noemi Oggero, Chiara Pellegrino, Davide Sandretto","doi":"10.1016/j.jeconbus.2026.106302","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jeconbus.2026.106302","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Understanding how individuals change their financial behaviour in response to large-scale extreme events is increasingly important in a world facing rising systemic risks, from pandemics to climate change. The Covid-19 pandemic offers a unique opportunity to study such behavioural responses, particularly in relation to insurance demand. Our study analyses the relationship between Covid-19 contraction and individuals’ interest to take out insurance, using representative survey data collected in Italy in 2021. We find that the direct experience of such an extreme event is positively correlated with higher interest in purchasing insurance, and the magnitude of this association increases with the severity of the event. Also, women exhibited greater sensitivity to the risky event, displaying increased insurance interest even at low event severity levels. Our results highlight how adverse external shocks are associated with changes in insurance-related behaviour.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47522,"journal":{"name":"JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS AND BUSINESS","volume":"141 ","pages":"Article 106302"},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2026-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148916935","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The impact of peer-to-peer lending on small business loans","authors":"Jin-Hyuk Kim, Frank Stähler","doi":"10.1016/j.jeconbus.2026.106307","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jeconbus.2026.106307","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>We examine the United States (US) small business lending market following the 2008 financial crisis from the perspective of fintech platform entry. Using the staggered entry of two major US crowdlending platforms, Lending Club and Prosper, across states, we estimate the effect of these entries on small business loans originated by traditional banks from 2009 to 2017. We find that, on average, the first platform entry resulted in an 11%–13% decline in small business lending by banks within a state, while not affecting other local economic indicators. We also show in a model that banks may respond to platform entry by reducing loan amounts under certain conditions, which could significantly decrease overall bank lending volume. Therefore, our empirical findings suggest a more cautious approach to the net impact of fintech platform entry.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47522,"journal":{"name":"JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS AND BUSINESS","volume":"141 ","pages":"Article 106307"},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2026-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148916933","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Claudio Oliveira de Moraes, Gabriel Do Nascimento Barboza
{"title":"Green commitments versus genuine practices: Evidence from Brazilian banking system","authors":"Claudio Oliveira de Moraes, Gabriel Do Nascimento Barboza","doi":"10.1016/j.jeconbus.2026.106314","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jeconbus.2026.106314","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Considering the growing pressure for socio-environmental transparency from banks, this study investigates whether enhanced climate disclosure impacts bank lending portfolios. To assess these effects, we developed measures to evaluate loan portfolio sustainability and the likelihood of greenwashing. Using panel data from Brazilian financial institutions between 2014 and 2021, our findings indicate that increased transparency is associated with a reduced carbon footprint in credit allocation. Conversely, entities with higher carbon exposure are more prone to greenwashing. These results provide valuable insights for regulators and stakeholders seeking to strengthen the role of both openness and corporate governance in promoting sustainable finance and mitigating greenwashing practices in the banking sector.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47522,"journal":{"name":"JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS AND BUSINESS","volume":"141 ","pages":"Article 106314"},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2026-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148916937","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Financial depth, economic development and the saturation effect: A sector level analysis","authors":"Nader AlKathiri, Sambit Bhattacharyya","doi":"10.1016/j.jeconbus.2026.106305","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jeconbus.2026.106305","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>We investigate the effect of financial depth on sectoral real value added conditional on the level of development. Using a sample of up to 95 countries observed over 1970–2017, we find that private credit has strong positive effects on manufacturing value added but not on services and agriculture. We also find evidence of diminishing marginal effects of credit at higher levels of development across all three sectors even though the effect is noticeably weaker in agriculture. The unbundled effects of household and non-financial corporation credit on value added in manufacturing and services are statistically significant.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47522,"journal":{"name":"JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS AND BUSINESS","volume":"141 ","pages":"Article 106305"},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2026-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148916936","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Gender, financial constraints, and institutions: Evidence from African private unlisted SMEs","authors":"Barkat Ullah, Yicheng Zhu","doi":"10.1016/j.jeconbus.2026.106319","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jeconbus.2026.106319","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In this paper, we investigate the effect of female leadership on the financial constraints faced by 32,183 privately held, unlisted small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across 48 African countries from 2006 to 2024. We also investigate how the impact of country-level institutional development on financial constraints varies between firms with female versus male leadership. We employ an index variable to measure firms’ financial constraints, which captures key aspects of the constraints SMEs face. We use three gender variables to measure female leadership in businesses. Our results indicate a positive association between female leadership and firms’ financial constraints, suggesting that firms with female top managers and owners face more financial constraints than those with male-managed and -owned. We also find that the positive effect of higher country-level institutional development on easing financial constraints is less pronounced in female-led firms than in male-led firms.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47522,"journal":{"name":"JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS AND BUSINESS","volume":"141 ","pages":"Article 106319"},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2026-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148916938","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abdul Qadeer , Ahmed Imran Hunjra , Mina Sami , Christopher E.C. Gan
{"title":"Climate policy uncertainty and realized volatility across tranquil and economic stress regimes","authors":"Abdul Qadeer , Ahmed Imran Hunjra , Mina Sami , Christopher E.C. Gan","doi":"10.1016/j.jeconbus.2025.106278","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jeconbus.2025.106278","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study investigates the out-of-sample impact of climate policy uncertainty (CPU) on realized volatility across tranquil and economic stress regimes. Using data from August 2010 to June 2025, we estimate multiple autoregressive (AR) models with and without CPU as an exogenous predictor. Furthermore, rolling window estimation is used to ensure the robustness across changing market conditions. The results show that basic AR models provide limited forecasting power for most sectors, particularly at longer horizons and during instability. However, incorporating CPU improves risk forecasts, especially for sectors highly exposed to environmental regulations such as Energy, Electricity, and Utilities. Thus, the influence of CPU on volatility is both sector-specific and sensitive to market regimes. The study concludes with policy implications and recommendations for key financial stakeholders.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47522,"journal":{"name":"JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS AND BUSINESS","volume":"140 ","pages":"Article 106278"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2026-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148171024","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Managing emerging risks: Financial implications of climate, geopolitical, and cybersecurity threats for firms","authors":"Sabri Boubaker, Walid Saffar","doi":"10.1016/j.jeconbus.2026.106320","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jeconbus.2026.106320","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":47522,"journal":{"name":"JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS AND BUSINESS","volume":"140 ","pages":"Article 106320"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2026-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148171414","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Geopolitical tensions and trade: Mitigating through partner diversification","authors":"Hakan Yilmazkuday","doi":"10.1016/j.jeconbus.2025.106274","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jeconbus.2025.106274","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper investigates the growing impact of geopolitical tensions on global trade and the mitigating role of trade partner diversification. Adapting a trade model and employing a novel bilateral geopolitical disagreement measure based on trade sanctions, we use comprehensive sectoral trade data covering the period of 1966–2020 to analyze trade flows of 167 countries. Our findings reveal that geopolitical tensions significantly reduce trade across all sectors, whereas trade partner diversification acts as a powerful buffer, offsetting these trade losses. We further identify sector-specific trade partner diversification thresholds, offering actionable insights for policymakers aiming to build more resilient trade networks in an increasingly fragmented global economy.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47522,"journal":{"name":"JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS AND BUSINESS","volume":"140 ","pages":"Article 106274"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2026-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148171413","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}